Journalism of Courage
In what seems to be a classic case of the justice delivery process being delayed due to lackadaisical approach of the police and district administration, a family from Pothia village under Bhagalpur’s Sanhaula police station is now waiting for the Bhagalpur Civil Court to pronounce quantum of sentence in a 45-year-old murder case.
The case relates to the murder of Pothia resident and survey inspector Dhananjay Choudhary on April 28, 1974 over a land dispute. Regular hearings began in 1991 after the case remained pending for 17 years in the absence of proper follow-up. The case went through a dozen courts and saw endless correspondence between courts, police and health department in search of post-mortem and forensic reports.
Additional and District Judge M P Singh convicted Choudhary’s distant cousin Chaturanand Choudhary (65) but acquitted Chaturanand’s younger brother Ravindra Choudhary, giving him the benefit of doubt.
Sanhaula police station had booked five people, including Chandra Kishan Choudhary, his sons Chaturanand, Ravindra, Madan and one Ramvilas Yadav.
Chandra Kishan Choudhary and Ramvilas Yadav died a few years ago. Madan claimed that he was a minor at the time of the murder and his case has been sent to juvenile court for review.
Additional Public Prosecutor Mohammed Riyaz Hussain said, “The court observed on the day of conviction that it had been enough and decided to deliver the verdict without the two reports.”
The verdict assumes significance amid high pendency of cases — nearly 17 lakh cases are pending in Bihar’s district courts. The Patna High Court had recently asked the government how long the courts could take in disposing of about 2.75 lakh liquor law cases when only 11 had been cleared so far.
At Pothia village, Madhuri Devi, wife of Choudhary’s son Subhash, said, “The case has taken a toll on all of us… My eldest brother-in-law Dilip Choudhary, who first followed the case, died three years ago.”
Choudhary’s nephew Rajkishore Choudhary, who had to stay away from the village due to fear of the accused, said, “Chaturanand’s family had to sell out about 70 bighas of land fighting the case. Yet they could not tilt the course of natural justice.”
